


Lone Morning

by Applejellie (softpudding)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Anyone else out here wanna talk about how lonely Ouma is, Character Study, Gen, M/M, No Spoilers, Prison mode, Unrequited Crush, add 'kinda' to that first additional tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 16:25:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12730104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softpudding/pseuds/Applejellie
Summary: On their last day trapped in the prison school, Ouma realizes he's been wasting his time.





	Lone Morning

This morning’s particular topic of discussion was unsurprisingly started by Kaede. Saihara asked her an inquiring question about her talent, and she got to discussing her upbringing in enthusiastic detail which inspired Toujou to make a comment about hers. Almost immediately, nearly everyone had joined in, excitedly sharing stories of their lives and experiences with one another and smiling as they recounted happier times. 

Kaede sat back in her chair for a moment and admired the scene playing out in front of her. Even her quieter classmates reminisced a bit. She was practically beaming. Everyone was getting along so well. Except...

“This is so boooooring,” Ouma, who had been uncharacteristically quiet all morning, sighed from a few chairs down. He hadn’t touched his breakfast and was holding his head in both of his hands, an overly exasperated expression on his face. The cheerful discussion abruptly ended, as if he alone had commanded it to. Ouma’s heart thrummed as all heads turned towards him, but outwardly his face remained the same.

Kaede winced at his outburst, squeezed her hands together on top of the table, and continued to smile while she thought of something to say. Angie promptly copied her pose.

“Oh, I’m  _ so _ fucking sorry we weren’t entertaining enough for Mr. Super High School Level Dickhead over here,” Momota growled, harshly breaking the silence. “If you’re so ‘booooored’, then just leave already. No one would miss you.”

Iruma snorted at Momota’s horribly pitched Ouma impersonation. He glared at her with a huff and she cowered.

Ouma snapped his attention to Momota, his fingers curled into fists against his cheeks. He looked more like a pouty spoiled child more than anything else.

“Geez...Momota-chan’s so mean. It’s not my fault you all have such boring and fake backstories that no one wants to hear about.”

“Ouma-kun, that’s-” Kaede started.

“It’s the tenth day, right? We’re all being released this afternoon anyway, there’s no point in sharing trivial details about ourselves at the last possible moment. Is this what you guys call friendship? Aren’t you really just trying to one-up each other?” Ouma had felt paranoia burn hot in his stomach the minute everyone had begun sharing their fascinating lives with one another. It was difficult to listen to. He could weave the most fantastical lies about himself and his life, but when it came to the truth, there wasn’t a single interesting thing about him in comparison to everyone else in the room. His hands shook slightly.

Realizing that he may have let his mask slip just a little, he steeled himself, ignored the ache in his chest, and then grinned happily after saying his piece. All eyes were on him. Perfect.

“We~llll anyway! There’s still a few hours left, so if someone wants to pull off a quick murder, I--”

Unexpectedly, Kaede stood up, the loud screeching of her chair’s legs against the floor momentarily shutting Ouma up. She completely ignored his pitiful attempt for attention and instead focused her gaze on the person sitting next to her. She put his hand on his shoulder. 

“Come on, Saihara-kun.”

“H-huh..?” Saihara turned red at suddenly being put on the spot. He didn’t want to be involved.

“We have our thing, remember?”

“O-oh, okay, I’m coming,” He sighed in relief and got up from his seat. He nodded at Toujou to thank her for the food. She offered him a small smile. All of the others, besides Ouma, Hoshi, and Toujou, also stood from the table and quietly filed out of the cafeteria, the earlier mood completely gone. Saihara didn’t blame them for wanting to leave.

“Ready?” Kaede asked, as she zipped up her backpack and slipped it on. Saihara nodded.

“Oh? And where are you two headed to all by yourselves?” Ouma questioned loudly the second Saihara and Kaede turned towards the door. When they didn’t answer, Ouma’s eyes flashed, as if he had just been struck with an awful thought. He put on his best overly scandalized expression. “Uh oh...plotting murder together? You know what the rules say: only one person can--”

“Ouma-kun, that’s not funny,” Kaede said with an air of exhaustion, “and you know that’s not true. Saihara-kun and I are just hanging out for a bit. Like we always do!”

Saihara made a noise of agreement.

Ouma stared at her blankly, still as a statue. After a split second of charged silence, he was back to normal again, and he sunk further into his chair. He stirred the chewed up, bended straw of his drink absentmindedly, causing the ice cubes to clink together.

“Hmm, so it’s like  _ that _ , huh.” He couldn’t have possibly sounded more bored. Even he didn’t know what he meant by “that”. He didn’t want to continue this conversation anymore.

“Um...like what? She’s my  _ friend _ .” Saihara spoke up, coming across as more demanding than he had intended to. He coughed quietly into his fist, embarrassed.

“Huh?” Ouma blinked like he’d just been awoken from a deep sleep and lifted his palms from his cheek. His face was red and splotchy where his hands had been resting against it. 

Ouma then grinned innocently, directing it at Saihara, as he stood up from his seat and made his way over to the pair. With lightning quick reflexes, Toujou pushed the chair in after him without a word.

Saihara met his eyes, confused.

“Wooooow,” He looked between Saihara and Kaede, nodding, “You two sure are close, huh! So, what kinda stuff do you do when you’re together? Y’know, since you’re friends and all!”

He didn’t care. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t know that Saihara - anxious, soft-spoken Saihara, with his self confidence closer to the ground than an ancient wad of gum stuck to the streets of downtown Tokyo, had managed to become so close to someone else. He hated that he hadn’t known when he  _ should  _ have. He was wasting his time. Saihara didn’t want to be his friend. Saihara didn’t want to hang out with him. Saihara didn’t want to get to know him. Saihara didn’t need him. Ouma wasn’t entertaining. The thoughts flooded his mind, impossible to ignore.

Ouma felt sick. His smile widened.

Saihara was, understandably, caught off-guard with the question. It seemed innocent enough, but coming from Ouma, it could only be a setup of some kind. He reached for his hat and fiddled with the brim.

“Um, we just... hang out...” He spoke softly.

“Uh-huh, Uh-huh, but what are you guys gonna  _ do _ ?” When Saihara didn’t respond immediately, Ouma asked him again, only louder and whinier, accompanied with a weak stomp of his foot.

“You’d better hurry up and give him attention,” Hoshi suddenly warned from the far end of the table, “‘else he’s just gonna keep repeating himself ‘til you do.” Hoshi had been so quiet all morning, Saihara honestly had forgotten that he was still in the room with them.

“Hold on for just a for second, Saihara-chan,” Ouma whipped around to face Hoshi, his cheeks puffed in a childish pout, “Um... excuse me! I’ve ne~ver done that! Never in my life!”

Hoshi rolled his eyes and very pointedly turned his attention back to the book that he had been reading, seemingly unable to take his own advice.

“Hey! I said I’ve never done that! Are you listening?” Ouma had balled his hands into fists and was shaking them around fitfully. He knew better than anyone he was being annoying. He knew he was obnoxious. But his heart was  _ glowing _ at the attention Saihara currently had focused on him. It didn’t matter to him what pitiful means he had to use in order to get it.

Saihara took a hesitant step towards him.

“Ouma-kun, we’re just going to her research lab. She’s been teaching me some piano. Or...rather, I’ve mostly just been listening to her play. She’s...she’s incredible.” He whispered the last sentence fondly, smiling to himself as he recalled her beautiful melodies.

Ouma’s impromptu fit abruptly came to an end and he twirled around to face the detective. He tried his hardest to ignore the way Saihara’s expression made him feel. “Woooow-! We’re trapped in an amazing school like this, and yet Akamatsu-chan just does what she always does when she’s back at home! It’s like our life threatening situation doesn’t exist at all!”

Saihara was tempted to insist that  _ actually,  _ Ouma-kun, playing piano helped calm Kaede down and made her happy -- it’s not as if she was ignoring what was happening around her, not in the slightest, but was trying to cope with it in her own way. But he knew arguing with Ouma was entirely useless. Saihara turned back to Kaede, whom was still smiling warmly despite Ouma’s attempt at getting a rise out of her.

“You know, Ouma-kun, if you’re ever feeling bored, or lonely, you could always join us,” she said softly. Saihara was surprised with her offer, though he honestly should’ve known Kaede would want to extend her hand to everyone, even Ouma.  Saihara’s perceptive eyes didn’t miss the way Kaede’s words made Ouma’s face momentarily go blank. Saihara then blinked, and Ouma was beaming full-force at them once more.

“Huh? You think I wanna join you guys?” Ouma tapped his finger against his chin quizzically as  his chest constricted, “And watch someone else play some boring old piano? I’m already falling asleep! Zzz...”

As Ouma began to snore as obnoxiously as humanly possible, Saihara turned towards the exit again and smiled awkwardly at Kaede. She shrugged.

  
“Well, I tried. You can’t win them all, I suppose,” She adjusted her backpack.  “You ready to go?”

Saihara nodded, and they left the cafeteria together. The instant the door clicked shut, Ouma’s noises stopped as if he were operated by a switch. He averted his attention to the only other two remaining in the room - Toujou and Hoshi. Toujou was dutifully scrubbing the already spotless table, a contented smile adorning her face, while Hoshi quietly read and lifted his book without a word when Toujou needed to clean underneath it. They weren’t paying him any mind. 

Even so, he couldn't risk being seen by anyone, so he headed out the backdoor. He walked slowly, deep in thought.

He would never, ever admit it to anyone, but one of Kaede’s words (observations?) had managed to get under his skin.  _ Lonely. _ He dug his nails into his palm painfully. He hated how badly that word affected him. Ouma had become completely accustomed to planning out his every move, scrutinizing everyone around him, and building a wall around himself so high that he wouldn’t be able to scale it even if he wanted to. He had hundreds of different masks for him to switch between as needed. He was untouchable. 

He could do all of that, second nature to him now, and yet he couldn’t even deal with some stupid unwanted emotion that he couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard he tried to bury it within himself. Everything he said and did, everything about him, was just a constant inner battle between his deeply rooted paranoia and his own crushing loneliness. 

Ouma looked up at the clear sky of the dome they were all trapped in. In a few hours, they would be set free. In a few hours, he would go back to his old life, almost as if everything in the past few days had never happened. What a waste of time.

Tenko, Himiko, and Angie suddenly ran past him, all laughing without a care in the world as Angie gave the small mage a piggy back ride. On Ouma’s left, Amami was helping Gonta look for bugs, both of them wearing a smile. And Saihara was playing piano with Kaede, like they “always” do. 

He went back to his room alone.

**Author's Note:**

> i apologize in advance for any mistakes/oocness/etc, i hope to write lots more saioumas (next time with the actual Saioumas happening...lol)


End file.
